3 convicted for attack in Lowe’s parking lot

District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced that on February 27, a Yolo County jury convicted three members of the Norteno street gang of robbery, battery, assault, witness intimidation and street gang activity for an attack on three people in a Lowe’s parking lot in West Sacramento on April 19, 2010.

According to the D.A.:

The three defendants, Jose Antonio Duran (20, of Sacramento), Salvador Benjamin Vasquez, Jr. (20, of Sacramento) and Joseph Vincent Sisneros (21, of Sacramento) saw the victim eating his Taco Bell dinner in his car. The man was in a nearly empty lot on Lake Washington Boulevard in Southport, just after 10 p.m..

The three gang members took the victim’s iPod, wallet and keys, then continued beating the victim, causing two facial fractures, while the victim pleaded for the men to stop.

[adrotate group=”10″] Four Lowe’s employees who walked into the lot after their shifts ended interrupted the attack. The four — all of whom testified at the trial — saw the three defendants taking turns punching the victim while shouting “Norte!” and laughing.

One of the suspects, Salvador Vasquez pretended to hold a gun under his shirt and repeatedly threatened to shoot the Lowe’s employee who was calling 911. The employee escaped by running to nearby Lake Washington Boulevard, but the second employee was caught by Duran and Sisneros. The second employee held up his hands in surrender, but the two defendants brutally attacked him, kicking him in the eye and breaking his nose.

The trial took two weeks and included testimony from a Sacramento Police Gang Detective who told a jury the Norteno street gang thrives on a reputation for violence and that the assault furthered those interests.

District Attorney Jeff Reisig thanked the Sacramento Police Department for offering their assistance, and thanked the citizens who were brave enough to intervene in the assault and to come forward to testify at the trial.